I haven’t written a letter of introduction for years. I think the last time was in elementary school when I wrote to a boy who lived in a different state. Today most people will just look someone up on Facebook if they want to know more about them, a practice affectionately known as Facebook stalking. However, I think me telling you about myself a bit more accurate.
My name is Deanna Satin. I am a junior at Roosevelt and I am sixteen years old. I have long, brown hair and blue eyes, and at five foot three, height is not on my side. I am heavily involved in the Drama Department at Roosevelt and have been involved in various different theatre productions since the fifth grade. At Roosevelt I am the stage manager and production assistant; my fellow drama kids refer to me as a techie. I also do performance theatre for competitions including solo musical theatre, group musical theatre, one act, and choral reading. I spend more time in the Drama room and the auditorium than I do in my own room.
I also love horses. I have been riding, both English and Western, since I was about nine. I have done shows and won ribbons and all that jazz. I don’t have the time for shows anymore, unfortunately. I do, however, have a horse. His name is Archie and I was lucky enough to get him the summer before the 8th grade. I love him so much.
I signed up to take APLang for the challenge. Regular English classes would be too simple for me. I hope to gain more vocabulary and better writing skills. As far as my writing goes, I wish to become more descriptive and elaborate in my writing. I also wish to know what things are important to put in an essay and what is not. I have always had trouble expanding on my ideas; putting what’s in my mind onto paper. I hope that I will become better at communicating my thoughts and beliefs in my writing.
I also hope to become better organized this semester. I have always had a problem with procrastination. I have a very busy schedule and fitting in homework can be a balancing act. I am going to work on prioritizing and self-motivation.
It’s hard to write a letter of introduction. I don’t always know what is important to inform someone of and what is not. If there is anything that I left out that you would like to know about me I would be more than happy to elaborate on that topic.
I look forward to hearing from you!
-Deanna
Personal Reflection on Topic of Inquiry(posted January 27 -- Peer Response January 29)
She cried. And it was my fault. I made my best friend cry because, well, I got mad. When I got mad I got mean. I would say almost anything just so I could hurt someone. So I could make their life a little worse. It was my way of punishing them for whatever they did. To me they deserved to be treated that way. They deserved to be cut with the sharp words that rolled of my tongue, like the bullets from a machine gun. But usually I didn’t make anyone cry.
She bawled. Tears streamed down her face, her cheeks fire red. Her shoulders shook and her fingers wavered. Her lips trembled as she tried to form words to say back to my nasty remark. It was the worst thing I had ever said to anyone, and I said it to my best friend. I said “No one loves you”.
That is a terrible thing. Probably the most painfully torture known to man: to not be loved. At the time I thought she deserved to be told that. She had done something terrible to me. She had made an unforgivable mistake. But for me to tell her that no one loved her, that’s worse than me just hauling off and hitting her in the mouth. Now I know that everyone deserves to be loved. Because when I saw the tears in her eyes and the pain in her heart, I felt terrible. I felt like I had run over a puppy and left it do die in the middle of the icy road. She deserved to be yelled at. She deserved to not have my friendship anymore. She did not deserve to be told that no one loves her. No one deserves that. To make someone feel that worthless, that empty, it should be a crime.
I now understand that people are going to make mistakes. People are going to disappoint you. That’s just how life works. It’s okay to be upset and angry and not want to talk to that person again. But I learned that I should never say anything with the intention of hurting someone. I should never say something with the soul purpose of breaking another human beings heart. Ever saying anything like that again would be the biggest mistake of all.
Rough Draft Definition (posted February 3 -- Peer Response February 5)
Cruelty is an act performed to inflict pain or suffering and is the absence of humane feelings.
Cruelty is often used as an act of vengeance. When someone is hurt or disappointed by another human being that person will often try to seek revenge. They want that person to experience the pain they caused them. They will say words to attack that person and leave them in as much emotional distress as possible so they can get even. These people more often than not go by the phrase, “an eye for an eye”. They believe in getting back at the people that hurt them, and cruelty is an easy way to do that.
Cruelty can be a sign of uncontrolled aggression. Aggression is a hostile act or attack. Aggression, however, is usually an isolated incident and is limited to certain people. Cruelty is used in all situations and has no discrimination.
Sources
- personal experience
- dictionary.com
- blog.talkingphilosiphy.com
- criminal.findlaw.com
- others experience Revision Definition (posted February 10 -- Peer Response February 12 )
Most people have made someone cry. They didn’t keep a promise or they told a desperate child, “No, you can’t have that toy”. Some people out there do it on purpose. They seek to make others cry or to make them upset. They will spit words at them or physically harm them. They will call them names or beat them until they are black and blue. They want to cause physical or emotional distress. They perform acts of cruelty.
Cruelty is an act performed to inflict pain or suffering and is the absence of humane feelings. It is the complete lack of compassion and sympathy. Cruelty is the condition of being undable to treat others as you want to be treated.
Today’s society has many different forms of cruelty. Animal cruelty, where humans mutilate, neglect, and sometimes kill innocent animals, is cruelty in a well-known form. Cruel and unusual punishment is another form of cruelty that is a common topic. Physically beating, torturing, and emotionally humiliating someone suspected or convicted of a crime is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Cruelty is a singularly human trait. Other animals do not have the ability to perform acts just for the purpose of hurting another living thing. If animals kill animals it is with purpose and instinct. Only humans are given the dark power to inflict pain with the intention of causing pain and suffering.
Cruelty is often associated with aggression. They are two different things, however. Aggression is a hostile act or attack and is usually the effect of pent up anger or frustration. Uncontrolled aggression can lead to cruelty. Having the inability to control actions or speech can lead to behavior that may seem cruel, but it’s not. Cruelty is done with the full intent to cause harm and pain to another living thing.
Final Definition (posted February 17 -- Peer Response February 19 )
Most people have made someone cry. They didn’t keep a promise or they told a desperate child, “No, you can’t have that toy”. Some people out there do it on purpose. They seek to make others cry or to make them upset. They will spit words at them or physically harm them. They will call them names or beat them until they are black and blue. They want to cause physical or emotional distress. They perform acts of cruelty.
Cruelty is an act performed to inflict pain or suffering and is the absence of humane feelings. It is the complete lack of compassion and sympathy. Cruelty is the condition of being undable to treat others as you want to be treated.
Today’s society has many different forms of cruelty. Animal cruelty, where humans mutilate, neglect, and sometimes kill innocent animals, is cruelty in a well-known form. Cruel and unusual punishment is another form of cruelty that is a common topic. Physically beating, torturing, and emotionally humiliating someone suspected or convicted of a crime is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Cruelty is a singularly human trait. Other animals do not have the ability to perform acts just for the purpose of hurting another living thing. If animals kill animals it is with purpose and instinct. Only humans are given the dark power to inflict pain with the intention of causing pain and suffering.
Cruelty is often associated with aggression. They are two different things, however. Aggression is a hostile act or attack and is usually the effect of pent up anger or frustration. Uncontrolled aggression can lead to cruelty. Having the inability to control actions or speech can lead to behavior that may seem cruel, but it’s not. Cruelty is done with the full intent to cause harm and pain to another living thing.
Reflection #1 (posted February 20 -- Peer Response February 22)
The purpose of my definition paper was to define the word cruelty. I think that I did a fair job at defining the word, but I could’ve done a better job of elaborating on my topic of choice and using more examples.
My intended audience was my teacher and my classmates. I used language that I knew they would understand and used sentence structure to apply to my classmates’ abilities and knowledge of English and composition.
My exigence is my newfound knowledge of how to treat others. I realized that it is not acceptable to hurt someone just for the purpose of hurting them and I wanted to show others that it isn’t ok.
I use personal experience to draw attention to the devastation caused by cruelty on the human mind and tried to make it so the readers could see it from their perspective.
For tone I used serious and strong words so the readers would feel as though the topic was important and they too should not stoop to performing cruel acts on others.
Revision Comparison (posted March 2 -- Peer Response March 4)
Final Comparison (posted March 9 -- Peer Response March 11)
Reflection #2 (posted March 16 -- Peer Response March 25)
The purpose of my writing was to show the difference between cruelty and insensitivity. I think I met the purpose well. I proved my point with evidence and supporting details for each word. My intended audience was my teacher because he was the one that read it. I changed some of the words that I used in order to appeal to his vocabulary. Rough Draft Argument (posted April 6 -- Peer Response April 8)
Revision Argument (posted April 13 -- Peer Response April 15)
Final Argument (posted April 20 -- Peer Response April 23)
I haven’t written a letter of introduction for years. I think the last time was in elementary school when I wrote to a boy who lived in a different state. Today most people will just look someone up on Facebook if they want to know more about them, a practice affectionately known as Facebook stalking. However, I think me telling you about myself a bit more accurate.
My name is Deanna Satin. I am a junior at Roosevelt and I am sixteen years old. I have long, brown hair and blue eyes, and at five foot three, height is not on my side. I am heavily involved in the Drama Department at Roosevelt and have been involved in various different theatre productions since the fifth grade. At Roosevelt I am the stage manager and production assistant; my fellow drama kids refer to me as a techie. I also do performance theatre for competitions including solo musical theatre, group musical theatre, one act, and choral reading. I spend more time in the Drama room and the auditorium than I do in my own room.
I also love horses. I have been riding, both English and Western, since I was about nine. I have done shows and won ribbons and all that jazz. I don’t have the time for shows anymore, unfortunately. I do, however, have a horse. His name is Archie and I was lucky enough to get him the summer before the 8th grade. I love him so much.
I signed up to take APLang for the challenge. Regular English classes would be too simple for me. I hope to gain more vocabulary and better writing skills. As far as my writing goes, I wish to become more descriptive and elaborate in my writing. I also wish to know what things are important to put in an essay and what is not. I have always had trouble expanding on my ideas; putting what’s in my mind onto paper. I hope that I will become better at communicating my thoughts and beliefs in my writing.
I also hope to become better organized this semester. I have always had a problem with procrastination. I have a very busy schedule and fitting in homework can be a balancing act. I am going to work on prioritizing and self-motivation.
It’s hard to write a letter of introduction. I don’t always know what is important to inform someone of and what is not. If there is anything that I left out that you would like to know about me I would be more than happy to elaborate on that topic.
I look forward to hearing from you!
-Deanna
Personal Reflection on Topic of Inquiry(posted January 27 -- Peer Response January 29)
She cried. And it was my fault. I made my best friend cry because, well, I got mad. When I got mad I got mean. I would say almost anything just so I could hurt someone. So I could make their life a little worse. It was my way of punishing them for whatever they did. To me they deserved to be treated that way. They deserved to be cut with the sharp words that rolled of my tongue, like the bullets from a machine gun. But usually I didn’t make anyone cry.
She bawled. Tears streamed down her face, her cheeks fire red. Her shoulders shook and her fingers wavered. Her lips trembled as she tried to form words to say back to my nasty remark. It was the worst thing I had ever said to anyone, and I said it to my best friend. I said “No one loves you”.
That is a terrible thing. Probably the most painfully torture known to man: to not be loved. At the time I thought she deserved to be told that. She had done something terrible to me. She had made an unforgivable mistake. But for me to tell her that no one loved her, that’s worse than me just hauling off and hitting her in the mouth. Now I know that everyone deserves to be loved. Because when I saw the tears in her eyes and the pain in her heart, I felt terrible. I felt like I had run over a puppy and left it do die in the middle of the icy road. She deserved to be yelled at. She deserved to not have my friendship anymore. She did not deserve to be told that no one loves her. No one deserves that. To make someone feel that worthless, that empty, it should be a crime.
I now understand that people are going to make mistakes. People are going to disappoint you. That’s just how life works. It’s okay to be upset and angry and not want to talk to that person again. But I learned that I should never say anything with the intention of hurting someone. I should never say something with the soul purpose of breaking another human beings heart. Ever saying anything like that again would be the biggest mistake of all.
Rough Draft Definition (posted February 3 -- Peer Response February 5)
Cruelty is an act performed to inflict pain or suffering and is the absence of humane feelings.
Cruelty is often used as an act of vengeance. When someone is hurt or disappointed by another human being that person will often try to seek revenge. They want that person to experience the pain they caused them. They will say words to attack that person and leave them in as much emotional distress as possible so they can get even. These people more often than not go by the phrase, “an eye for an eye”. They believe in getting back at the people that hurt them, and cruelty is an easy way to do that.
Cruelty can be a sign of uncontrolled aggression. Aggression is a hostile act or attack. Aggression, however, is usually an isolated incident and is limited to certain people. Cruelty is used in all situations and has no discrimination.
Sources
- personal experience
- dictionary.com
- blog.talkingphilosiphy.com
- criminal.findlaw.com
- others experience
Revision Definition (posted February 10 -- Peer Response February 12 )
Most people have made someone cry. They didn’t keep a promise or they told a desperate child, “No, you can’t have that toy”. Some people out there do it on purpose. They seek to make others cry or to make them upset. They will spit words at them or physically harm them. They will call them names or beat them until they are black and blue. They want to cause physical or emotional distress. They perform acts of cruelty.
Cruelty is an act performed to inflict pain or suffering and is the absence of humane feelings. It is the complete lack of compassion and sympathy. Cruelty is the condition of being undable to treat others as you want to be treated.
Today’s society has many different forms of cruelty. Animal cruelty, where humans mutilate, neglect, and sometimes kill innocent animals, is cruelty in a well-known form. Cruel and unusual punishment is another form of cruelty that is a common topic. Physically beating, torturing, and emotionally humiliating someone suspected or convicted of a crime is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Cruelty is a singularly human trait. Other animals do not have the ability to perform acts just for the purpose of hurting another living thing. If animals kill animals it is with purpose and instinct. Only humans are given the dark power to inflict pain with the intention of causing pain and suffering.
Cruelty is often associated with aggression. They are two different things, however. Aggression is a hostile act or attack and is usually the effect of pent up anger or frustration. Uncontrolled aggression can lead to cruelty. Having the inability to control actions or speech can lead to behavior that may seem cruel, but it’s not. Cruelty is done with the full intent to cause harm and pain to another living thing.
Final Definition (posted February 17 -- Peer Response February 19 )
Most people have made someone cry. They didn’t keep a promise or they told a desperate child, “No, you can’t have that toy”. Some people out there do it on purpose. They seek to make others cry or to make them upset. They will spit words at them or physically harm them. They will call them names or beat them until they are black and blue. They want to cause physical or emotional distress. They perform acts of cruelty.
Cruelty is an act performed to inflict pain or suffering and is the absence of humane feelings. It is the complete lack of compassion and sympathy. Cruelty is the condition of being undable to treat others as you want to be treated.
Today’s society has many different forms of cruelty. Animal cruelty, where humans mutilate, neglect, and sometimes kill innocent animals, is cruelty in a well-known form. Cruel and unusual punishment is another form of cruelty that is a common topic. Physically beating, torturing, and emotionally humiliating someone suspected or convicted of a crime is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Cruelty is a singularly human trait. Other animals do not have the ability to perform acts just for the purpose of hurting another living thing. If animals kill animals it is with purpose and instinct. Only humans are given the dark power to inflict pain with the intention of causing pain and suffering.
Cruelty is often associated with aggression. They are two different things, however. Aggression is a hostile act or attack and is usually the effect of pent up anger or frustration. Uncontrolled aggression can lead to cruelty. Having the inability to control actions or speech can lead to behavior that may seem cruel, but it’s not. Cruelty is done with the full intent to cause harm and pain to another living thing.
Reflection #1 (posted February 20 -- Peer Response February 22)
The purpose of my definition paper was to define the word cruelty. I think that I did a fair job at defining the word, but I could’ve done a better job of elaborating on my topic of choice and using more examples.
My intended audience was my teacher and my classmates. I used language that I knew they would understand and used sentence structure to apply to my classmates’ abilities and knowledge of English and composition.
My exigence is my newfound knowledge of how to treat others. I realized that it is not acceptable to hurt someone just for the purpose of hurting them and I wanted to show others that it isn’t ok.
I use personal experience to draw attention to the devastation caused by cruelty on the human mind and tried to make it so the readers could see it from their perspective.
For tone I used serious and strong words so the readers would feel as though the topic was important and they too should not stoop to performing cruel acts on others.
Rough Draft Comparison (postedFebruary 24 -- Peer Response February 26 )
Revision Comparison (posted March 2 -- Peer Response March 4)
Final Comparison (posted March 9 -- Peer Response March 11)
Reflection #2 (posted March 16 -- Peer Response March 25)
The purpose of my writing was to show the difference between cruelty and insensitivity. I think I met the purpose well. I proved my point with evidence and supporting details for each word. My intended audience was my teacher because he was the one that read it. I changed some of the words that I used in order to appeal to his vocabulary.
Rough Draft Argument (posted April 6 -- Peer Response April 8)
Revision Argument (posted April 13 -- Peer Response April 15)
Final Argument (posted April 20 -- Peer Response April 23)
Reflection #3 (posted April 23)